Kingdom of Thailand aka The Land of Conditional Smiles
Loikroh Road 70 - 72/1
Wild Orchid Guest House +66844845080 wildorchidcm@gmail.com
Double room with wifi for THB 350.- or US$ 10.60 per night, laundry for THB 30.- per kg.
Click below for an interactive road map of the Wild Orchid Guest House in Chiang Mai, which we would not recommend, and for directions:Exploring friendly and cosmopolitan Chiang Mai, the northern capital of Thailand and often referred to as “The Rose of the North”, and absorbing the fascinating local Lanna culture, thus (i) strolling through the walled old city, a neat square bounded by moats and partial walls, (ii) learning that old Chiang Mai was the first Southeast Asian state to make the historic transition from the Mon and Khmer cultures to a new era ruled by Thais, and (iii) regaining our strength on the lively night bazaar, the modern legacy of a caranvansary where Yunnanese traders on their ancient tea route between Simao in China and Mawlamyaing on Burma’s Martaban Coast broke their journey overnight.
Watching during Chiang Mai’s spectacular 34th Flower Festival (i) the gaudy parade of fantastic floats decorated with both millions of beautiful flowers and hundreds of likewise beautiful young Thai ladies (with a substantial number of even more beautiful ladyboys aka kathoeys thrown in for good measure), (ii) many gorgeous displays of yellow and white chrysanthemums, and the Damask Rose, a variety found only in Chiang Mai, and (iii) lively performances of traditional hill-tribe dancers in their colourful tribal outfits.
Konni: Releasing two caged wishing birds from Wat Bupparam for our two breezy grandsons Raoni and Tien in Ontario, paying THB 50.- or US$ 1.50 each for my little karmic cleansing aka fàngshēng and guiding the two birds' very looong intercontinental flight from Chiang Mai to Toronto with elaborate and powerful Tai Chi and Qigong moves, such as (i) “Shooting of the Arrow”, (ii) “Phoenix Spreads its Wings” and (iii) “Two Dragons Go out to Sea”.
"If wishes were thrushes beggers would eat birds."
"If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd surely be dishes to do."
Click below for more blog posts about spectacular Asian festivals
13 Mar - 18 Apr 2013 Bangkok (Songkran Festival)
12 Apr - 23 Apr 2011 Madurai (Chittirai Festival)
14 Sep - 24 Oct 2008 Phuket (Vegetarian Festival)
28 Jan - 04 Feb 2010 Penang (Thaipusam Festival)
06 Feb - 16 Feb 2009 Kuala Lumpur (Thaipusam Festival)
13 Mar - 18 Apr 2013 Bangkok (Songkran Festival)
12 Apr - 23 Apr 2011 Madurai (Chittirai Festival)
14 Sep - 24 Oct 2008 Phuket (Vegetarian Festival)
28 Jan - 04 Feb 2010 Penang (Thaipusam Festival)
06 Feb - 16 Feb 2009 Kuala Lumpur (Thaipusam Festival)
Click below for a summary of this year's travels
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